Park-and-ride off U.S. 281 is taking shape

Updated 12:28 am, Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The first phase of a park-and-ride off U.S. 281 could open as soon as next year or by 2014, VIA Metropolitan Transit officials told a District 9 town hall meeting Tuesday night.

The first phase will probably consist of a lighted waiting and parking area, with plans and funding for an actual building still to come.

Among the District 9 residents in the audience, there was only enthusiasm for the project. For Councilwoman Elisa Chan, who organized the meeting and has pushed for a park-and-ride since she was elected in 2009, the main question was: How soon can it be built?

Currently, VIA has an agreement with a Wal-Mart off Loop 1604, just west of U.S. 281, as a VIA pick-up point. Chan has said she wanted a park-and-ride farther north on U.S. 281 to capture more riders. A facility there could also help people skip the worst congestion, she said.

The U.S. 281 park-and-ride was one of several projects funded by the county, city and VIA last fall, as part of VIA's $239 million short-term capital plan. That transit package also included a $190 million downtown streetcar system, two downtown transit centers, and a park-and-ride at Brooks City-Base.

VIA has not yet settled on a location for the District 9 park-and-ride, but officials said they hope to buy property off U.S. 281, just south of Stone Oak Parkway.

The first phase will cost between $5 million and $7 million, which accounts for purchase of the land, said VIA spokeswoman Priscilla Ingle. It will have about 200 parking spaces, bicycle racks, lighting, security cameras and real-time bus information.

The project's second phase will include more parking, an “enhanced passenger waiting area,” and a connector ramp to transit-priority lanes planned for U.S. 281 by 2017. Those will be free for buses and car-pool vehicles. But this second phase will cost $10 million to $13 million. VIA is still working to identify that funding, Ingle said.

Chan has reiterated she wants more than a park-and-ride alone: She is talking with VIA about establishing a bus circulator at the facility to ferry customers to destinations farther north once they arrive at the park-and-ride. VIA chief development officer Brian Buchanan said the agency is studying that option, as well as adding routes to the park-and-ride for people who work in the medical center.

There's evidence that the demand for the service exists: Ridership on VIA's Express routes, which include a line that travels to the U.S. 281 and Loop 1604 area, jumped 17 percent in 2011 compared with 2010, said VIA President and CEO Keith Parker. Overall, bus ridership was up 6 percent in that time.

District 9 resident Cheryl Shaw doesn't live in the Stone Oak area but knows people who do, including seniors. From what she's heard, if “VIA would get it (the park-and-ride) out here, it would be used.”

A recent Brookings Institute analysis found that many people don't have access to public transit that can easily get them to job centers, often because people live in suburbs where buses don't go. Very few VIA bus routes, with the exception of its Express buses, go north of Loop 1604. That can affect people who live in those areas, and those who want to work there but have limited personal transportation choices.

Chan kept the needs of the labor force in mind Tuesday, emphasizing she wants the park-and-ride to serve not only those who choose to take the bus but those who are transit-dependent and would benefit if more bus routes traveled north of Loop 1604. Chan owns an engineering firm in the area, and, often, surveying crew members have trouble getting to her office. She wants the new facility to put “the employer and the workforce together.”